Ford gets $5.9 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy
FoMoCo announced today that it will receive $5.9 billion in loans out of the $8 billion that the Obama Administration announced in commitments for the development of advanced vehicle technologies.
Ford will get its $5.9 billion in loans through 2011 to fund numerous engineering advances in traditional combustion engines and electric-vehicles. The loan will also help Ford convert two truck plants to the production of small cars.
“Ford will be raising the fuel efficiency of more than a dozen popular models, including the Focus, Escape, Taurus and F-150, representing close to two million new vehicles annually and helping to transform nearly 35,000 employees to green engineering and manufacturing jobs in factories across 5 states,” the U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement.
FoMoCo will build its first battery-electric vehicle in 2011. The Ford Focus BEV will be produced in partnership with Magna International and features a high-voltage electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. Ford said that the Focus BEV is just one part of Ford”s promise to deliver four new electric-vehicles in the U.S. by 2012.
” This green partnership between Ford and the U.S. government will help accelerate the development of advanced technologies for even better fuel efficiency and emissions,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement earlier today.
“In fact, we plan to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years. Our partnership with the Department of Energy also will help retool our U.S. plants more quickly to produce fuel efficient vehicles and help meet the new, rigorous fuel-economy requirements.”
Ford Focus BEV Concept:
– By: Omar Rana
